1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of infant supports. More particularly, the invention relates to a support device to pose an infant for a photograph.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is a common desire of parents to want to have photographs taken of their newborn child. Many parents take snapshots of the infant, of course, but many also have photographs taken by a photographer. Ideally, the photo is just of the newborn, but, because of the inability of a newborn to hold a particular position, a parent frequently holds the child. This has the disadvantage that the parent is also in the photograph.
In order to get a photograph of a newborn by itself, some means of supporting the infant in a particular position is needed. The professional photographer resorts to various measures to support an infant in a desired position. Typically, the infant is placed on a flat surface and then pillows, blankets, or other forms of padding are placed around and under the infant to support it in a particular position. This make-shift approach is often not very pleasing aesthetically and not very effective. Pillows and cushions filled with foam are compressible and the infant sinks down into them. Rolled up or folded blankets are unsightly and tend to shift if the infant moves.
One effort to solve the problem of posing an infant for a photograph is a Posing Beanbag sold by shootbaby.com. This device is an ottoman, i.e., a cushion with a relatively stiff and flat upper surface on which the infant is placed. But, with this device, too, creative efforts in adding padding to the ottoman are undertaken to obtain the desired position. In one example, padding, such as rolled up blankets, is placed on the ottoman and then a covering of some decorative fabric placed over it, to provide the necessary support to hold the infant in the desired position and also to provide an aesthetically pleasing background.
It takes time to create the proper support for the infant. This fussing with padding can be tedious and frustrating work, and moving and wedging padding under a sleeping newborn to bring it into position may also wake the infant, which can be distressing to infant and parent.
What is needed, therefore, is a support device that will allow a photographer to place an infant, including a newborn infant, into various poses. What is further needed is such a device that is a comfortable support for the infant and also aesthetically pleasing.